# Attention All EBay Snipers



## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

Well, after finally accepting the fact that the the odds of winning an auction on any decent older Petersons on eBay without using automated bidding are roughly equivilent to the odds of being stuck by lightning just as I'm picking up my Powerball check, I've decided to join the Dark Side. Anyone use a good service they could recommend.

Thanks!


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

I do my sniping manually.
My strategery is to decide on a maximum 
bid and submit it at about twenty seconds.
If I don't win, then it went for more than I would pay.


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## wsamsky (Jun 1, 2010)

If you enter a high max bid eBay automatically increases your bid by the minimum bid amount up to your max bid. Is this what your trying to do or am I completely off base?


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## Garin (May 21, 2010)

My strategy for eBay typically goes something like this:

Bid low "early". I start with a low max bid days before it finishes. I figure this discourages the casuals from going for the unbid item on a whim.

If there is bidding after that, I leave it as is so I don't get the other(s) excited. Then some time shortly before it ends (1hr or less), I put in my real max bid and then forget about it. If someone outbids me, well then they pay for it (literally) and I don't lose anything. If I feel like I "lost" then it just means I didn't put my max bid where it should have been, so it was my fault.


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

wsamsky said:


> If you enter a high max bid eBay automatically increases your bid by the minimum bid amount up to your max bid. Is this what your trying to do or am I completely off base?


Right.


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

Garin said:


> My strategy for eBay typically goes something like this:
> 
> Bid low "early". I start with a low max bid days before it finishes. I figure this discourages the casuals from going for the unbid item on a whim.
> 
> If there is bidding after that, I leave it as is so I don't get the other(s) excited. Then some time shortly before it ends (1hr or less), I put in my real max bid and then forget about it. If someone outbids me, well then they pay for it (literally) and I don't lose anything. If I feel like I "lost" then it just means I didn't put my max bid where it should have been, so it was my fault.


An hour before the auction closes is 
still plenty of time to start a bidding war.
I like to cut it as close as possible.


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## Jivey (Dec 6, 2010)

The thing with eBay is you have to be patient. Otherwise you end up paying more than you wanted to. I treat it like a silent auction. I put my max bid in about 10 minutes before it has ended and leave it. If I win I win. There will always be more pipes posted up. What the seller wants is a bidding war with people bidding blindly just "to win" rather than paying what the product is actually worth.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

Guys,

Thanks for all the responses. Just so I understand correctly (I've never bid on things on eBay before very recently when I decided to seriously collect old Petes), if the current bid is lets say $40 and with a few seconds left I put in bid of $60 (the max I think the pipe is worth) and no one else bids my bid will go in at $41 not $60 and I will win at $60 if no one bids more than that? Also, if I bid $60 with 10 minutes left, let's say, my bid will only show up as $41 if the current bid is $40? Sorry for being so dense on the subject.

Thanks for the help guys!


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## dmgizzo (Dec 13, 2010)

indigosmoke said:


> Well, after finally accepting the fact that the the odds of winning an auction on any decent older Petersons on eBay without using automated bidding are roughly equivilent to the odds of being stuck by lightning just as I'm picking up my Powerball check, I've decided to join the Dark Side. Anyone use a good service they could recommend.
> 
> Thanks!


Add another manual sniper to the list. and yes, you have the way the bidding works correctly, you will pay $41 under that scenario.


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## x6ftundx (Jul 31, 2008)

indigosmoke said:


> Guys,
> 
> Thanks for all the responses. Just so I understand correctly (I've never bid on things on eBay before very recently when I decided to seriously collect old Petes), if the current bid is lets say $40 and with a few seconds left I put in bid of $60 (the max I think the pipe is worth) and no one else bids my bid will go in at $41 not $60. Also, if I bid $60 with 10 minutes left, let's say, my bid will only show up as $41 if the current bid is $40?
> 
> Thanks for the help guys!


yes, but just be aware that it COULD go to $60 so you better be ready to pay that... my trick is if it's $40 with a few seconds left and I really want it I put in $80 or about double the price at 45-50 seconds out, sometimes you gotta sign in to ebay again and that will allow the time to do it... most people will start with $50 or $55 and that's too late... also the other weasle thingy you can do is a couple of days before the auction is ending and no one has bid on it, ask him if there is a buy it now and end the auction. You would be surprised how many people will end the auction and loose out on a ton of money just becuase they don't think they can sell it and want to make a quick buck... then if you don't like it turn it around for the big bucks :rolln the flip


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Hermit said:


> I do my sniping manually.
> My strategery is to decide on a maximum
> bid and submit it at about twenty seconds.
> If I don't win, then it went for more than I would pay.


Whoooop...there it is. If it is something you know you want it's worth waiting and getting online the last minute. If you win it's worth the time invested...if you lose then it wasn't meant to be.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

x6ftundx said:


> yes, but just be aware that it COULD go to $60 so you better be ready to pay that... my trick is if it's $40 with a few seconds left and I really want it I put in $80 or about double the price at 45-50 seconds out, sometimes you gotta sign in to ebay again and that will allow the time to do it... most people will start with $50 or $55 and that's too late... also the other weasle thingy you can do is a couple of days before the auction is ending and no one has bid on it, ask him if there is a buy it now and end the auction. You would be surprised how many people will end the auction and loose out on a ton of money just becuase they don't think they can sell it and want to make a quick buck... then if you don't like it turn it around for the big bucks :rolln the flip


Thanks for the info. Shows you what I know. I thought if I bid $60 with 10 minutes left it would show up as $60 the current high bid. So I guess I don't understand what the point of the automated services is.


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## SmokinDragon (May 31, 2009)

Hermit said:


> I do my sniping manually.
> My strategery is to decide on a maximum
> bid and submit it at about twenty seconds.
> If I don't win, then it went for more than I would pay.


ditto


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

I welcome all to the Dark Side! I do snipe when I really want something that I know there will be a lot of activity.

I use gixen.com, which is free but you can also pay for extra goodies (not necessary). I'e used them for years now after I tired of losing too many items to other snipers.


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## dmgizzo (Dec 13, 2010)

Jivey said:


> The thing with eBay is you have to be patient. Otherwise you end up paying more than you wanted to. I treat it like a silent auction. I put my max bid in about 10 minutes before it has ended and leave it. If I win I win. There will always be more pipes posted up. What the seller wants is a bidding war with people bidding blindly just "to win" rather than paying what the product is actually worth.


Great point, I won 4 pipes this weekend, probably bid on twelve but many exceeded my maxx. I always set a max in my mind first, and my final bid is always the max price but many times someone else goes higher. Lost a lot of pipes that way, but by the same token I have never paid maore than I wanted to. I use the same methodology for anything I buy on Ebay.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

CWL said:


> I welcome all to the Dark Side! I do snipe when I really want something that I know there will be a lot of activity.
> 
> I use gixen.com, which is free but you can also pay for extra goodies (not necessary). I'e used them for years now after I tired of losing too many items to other snipers.


Thanks Charles, I'll check them out. Just to be sure I understand, bidding at the max price you are willing to pay only works in the final seconds of the auction, otherwise your bid will show up as the new high bid at your maximum price but you'll only pay $1 more than the previous high bid if no one out bids your maximum price?


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## SmoknTaz (Jun 18, 2008)

Hermit said:


> I do my sniping manually.
> My strategery is to decide on a maximum
> bid and submit it at about twenty seconds.
> If I don't win, then it went for more than I would pay.


Same here. This method has saved me a lot of money!


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## d_day (Aug 24, 2008)

indigosmoke said:


> Thanks for the info. Shows you what I know. I thought if I bid $60 with 10 minutes left it would show up as $60 the current high bid. So I guess I don't understand what the point of the automated services is.


It always shows the lowest winning bid. Let's say three people bid on an item. The first bids 40, the second 50, and the third 60. After the first person bids, the current winning bid will be the minimum asked for. When the second person bids, the price will jump to 41. Then when the third person bids, it will jump again to 51. When you enter a mix bid, the system automatically bids for you until the current winner's high bid is beaten, or until it reaches your max.

Now, let's say the current price is 40, but, unbeknownst to you, the leader has his max set to 80. You enter a bid of 60. The price will jump to 61, and the other person will still be the leader.

I hope this helps.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

d_day said:


> It always the lowest winning bid. Let's say three people bid on an item. The first bids 40, the second 50, and the third 60. After the first person bids, the current winning bid will be the minimum asked for. When the second person bids, the price will jump to 41. Then when the third person bids, it will jump again to 51. When you enter a mix bid, the system automatically bids for you until the current winner's high bid is beaten, or until it reaches your max.
> 
> Now, let's say the current price is 40, but, unbeknownst to you, the leader has his max set to 80. You enter a bid of 60. The price will jump to 61, and the other person will still be the leader.
> 
> I hope this helps.


Thanks! Now I understand! What do the automated sniping services offer then? That's the only thing I don't understand.


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## d_day (Aug 24, 2008)

I couldn't say what they offer. It's been so long since I used eBay that the sniping services didn't exist yet.


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## x6ftundx (Jul 31, 2008)

indigosmoke said:


> Thanks! Now I understand! What do the automated sniping services offer then? That's the only thing I don't understand.


so they can do the same thing as a micro transaction in stocks and bonds... they can get a bid in within 1/10th of a nano second therefor you win. So you put in $50 and it will put it in 1/10th of a second before the end of the auction. You still put in your max that you want to pay and it will then put it in. You don't get a second chance, either you win or loose since it's so close to the end.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

x6ftundx said:


> so they can do the same thing as a micro transaction in stocks and bonds... they can get a bid in within 1/10th of a nano second therefor you win. So you put in $50 and it will put it in 1/10th of a second before the end of the auction. You still put in your max that you want to pay and it will then put it in. You don't get a second chance, either you win or loose since it's so close to the end.


Got it. Thanks!


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## FLIPFLOPS_AND_SHADES (Nov 25, 2010)

This is a very informative thread. I have been cruising ebay a lot the past couple of days but I haven't had the desire to "pull the trigger." While to me, a lot of the pipes look exceptional, I want to hold and feel something before I buy it.

But I will probably put a bid on some pipes in the near future.8)


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## eljimmy (Jun 27, 2009)

Hermit said:


> I do my sniping manually.
> My strategery is to decide on a maximum
> bid and submit it at about twenty seconds.
> If I don't win, then it went for more than I would pay.


Same here!


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

The best thing that sniping does is not let others know that you exist and are interested in an item. Sometimes they (Me) will forget to set a higher bid price because there doesn't seem to be any activity in the item and we will forget to check on it at the closing minutes/seconds of the auction. If this happens and even if you are willing to have paid more, you will lose the item in the final seconds... often it will show that you are leading all the way to close... then you refresh the page to find that somebody else won.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

CWL said:


> The best thing that sniping does is not let others know that you exist and are interested in an item. Sometimes they (Me) will forget to set a higher bid price because there doesn't seem to be any activity in the item and we will forget to check on it at the closing minutes/seconds of the auction. If this happens and even if you are willing to have paid more, you will lose the item in the final seconds... often it will show that you are leading all the way to close... then you refresh the page to find that somebody else won.


Thanks Charles! Once again you provide sage advice. I appreciate it.


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

On the very rare occasion that I use ebay, I manual snipe with less than five seconds on the clock. Any bid before then almost always just drives up the price.


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

d_day said:


> Now, let's say the current price is 40, but, unbeknownst to you, the leader has his max set to 80. You enter a bid of 60. The price will jump to 61, and the other person will still be the leader.


Yeah, I've cost some people a few bucks that way.
My last second bid bumped the price up to my max
bid, but I wasn't the winner.


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## Breakaway500 (May 7, 2010)

When I use to buy a lot of stuff on Ebay,I used Auction Sentry. Link to Auction Sentry Back then, you bought the program up front,and upgrades were free.Now,it appears you pay $14 bucks/yr, but even at that,if you do a lot of Ebay buying,you will save $$$!! Some items are listed at very late hrs,so it makes manual sniping difficult. This program allows you to enter an Ebay auction number,the maximum $$ you want to pay,and how many seconds before the end of the auction you want to snipe,it will automatically submits bids till you hit your set limit,or win it. I used it for 5 years with much success.When I changed computers a few years ago,I never did reinstall Auction Sentry,although I could have. Nowadays,I don't snipe much,cuz most of the stuff I buy,no one else wants! 
I once got a zero second snipe on an auction. It is kinda fun..


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## GlassEye (Oct 25, 2009)

I hate snipers, but the only way to compete with them is to snipe. I snipe manually, if I forget to check and lose the auction, I will just save money. 

I like to put in a low bid early to discourage someone from bidding on the no-bid item, then if I really want it I will snipe as late as I can if necessary. I am usually bidding very low on quite a few pipes, and rarely win. I have gotten a couple cheap pipes this way, though.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

indigosmoke said:


> Thanks for the info. Shows you what I know. I thought if I bid $60 with 10 minutes left it would show up as $60 the current high bid. So I guess I don't understand what the point of the automated services is.


Okay, here's the point. Using your scenario, the person you just outbid now has ten minutes to outbid you, or at least drive your price up higher. If you snipe in the last ten seconds, they have no time to react, and you get the pipe for $41.

All the automated service does for you is free you up from the computer, so you don't have to be sitting there, ready to bid, at the auction's close.


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## JackH (Aug 13, 2009)

I also believe in manual sniping. After all, it's fun. Win or loose that last 20 seconds feels like a roller coaster ride. The only thing I would offer to all else that's been said is don't bid in round numbers. most people think that way so, using your example, if you're thinking of sniping with a top bid of $60, put in $61.50 instead. I've won quite a few that way. Good luck.


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

Guys,

Thanks for all the responses. You've given me an eBay education that I'm sure will pay off in the future.


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## GlassEye (Oct 25, 2009)

JackH said:


> I also believe in manual sniping. After all, it's fun. Win or loose that last 20 seconds feels like a roller coaster ride. The only thing I would offer to all else that's been said is don't bid in round numbers. most people think that way so, using your example, if you're thinking of sniping with a top bid of $60, put in $61.50 instead. I've won quite a few that way. Good luck.


I forgot to mention that trick in my first post. I always bid an extra few cents to throw off the others who bid even amounts, it does help usually.


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## Jivey (Dec 6, 2010)

You are the guys that drive me nuts! That happened to me recently actually... I had all buy won my auction, then at the last minute someone outbids me so I bid something like $60. The winner won with 60.50 or something silly.


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## dmgizzo (Dec 13, 2010)

This sniper's going into the no buy zone for a few weeks, just scored a couple vintage Caminetto's from somewhere else that puts me at approx. 6 Italian briars in the last 3 days. Going underground for a bit, there's some nice one's coming up too, but I'll be watching for educational purposes only :dunno:


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## MoreBeer (Feb 13, 2010)

I don't buy pipes but for other things I've been using a service called PowerSnipe for the last 3 years or so. Its something like $45 annually.

eBay Auction Sniper at Powersnipe.com


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## ghe-cl (Apr 9, 2005)

I second Gixen. It's free, works fine and is easy to use.


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## BloodyCactus (Oct 19, 2010)

also remember, if you see something you want and it has no bids, drop a 10cent bid, this stops the owner from 'pulling' it and doing an off the books sale or making up some crap excuse. Once there is a bid on it, it can't be pulled when someone comes up and just makes an offer in a private message.


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## dmkerr (Oct 27, 2008)

Jivey said:


> You are the guys that drive me nuts! That happened to me recently actually... I had all buy won my auction, then at the last minute someone outbids me so I bid something like $60. The winner won with 60.50 or something silly.


Yeah, that kinda throws off the argument that "If I lose, the winner paid more than I would have". Very often the winner gets it for pennies more than my max bid. Pisses me off. But that's Ebay... either we play the game or we don't.


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## JackH (Aug 13, 2009)

If you think this is fun, you need to see it from the selling side. After listing a hunting knife for a starting bid of $195 and not attracting any bidders, I relisted it with a starting bid of $145 and hoped for the best. I paid $220 for the knife but was prepared to take a loss. Someone placed the minimum bid on the first day and it sat like that for the next six days. In the last ten minutes 2 more bidders jumped in for small increases but in the last 30 seconds it went to $240 and sold for $289! Quite a nice outcome from the bidding wars!


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## quincy627 (Jul 2, 2010)

Twenty seconds, heck that's too much time to let others swoop in and up to your max.:nono:
I open a seperate browser window and wait until about 4 seconds to drop my bid. :clap2::whoo:I have had a lot of luck this way, also got burned this way. I have had more good than bad come out of it.



Hermit said:


> I do my sniping manually.
> My strategery is to decide on a maximum
> bid and submit it at about twenty seconds.
> If I don't win, then it went for more than I would pay.


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## quincy627 (Jul 2, 2010)

Most bidders on Ebay are educated about what they are buying. They know what the retail usually is and if a particular item is hard to come by. Glad to hear your auction had a good outcome.



JackH said:


> If you think this is fun, you need to see it from the selling side. After listing a hunting knife for a starting bid of $195 and not attracting any bidders, I relisted it with a starting bid of $145 and hoped for the best. I paid $220 for the knife but was prepared to take a loss. Someone placed the minimum bid on the first day and it sat like that for the next six days. In the last ten minutes 2 more bidders jumped in for small increases but in the last 30 seconds it went to $240 and sold for $289! Quite a nice outcome from the bidding wars!


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## quincy627 (Jul 2, 2010)

I hear what your saying but unfortunatly, it's not true. Any seller can end an auction at any time while still active. I have had it done to me. Once the auction is over, they are required to sell. Don't think that this is set in stone either. I won an item at an incredible price. I paid and the seller said he shipped it. Long story short, I did not get it, he refunded my money and two weeks later he was selling the same item. Ebay claimed there was nothing they could do since he gave my money back. 
:jaw:



BloodyCactus said:


> also remember, if you see something you want and it has no bids, drop a 10cent bid, this stops the owner from 'pulling' it and doing an off the books sale or making up some crap excuse. Once there is a bid on it, it can't be pulled when someone comes up and just makes an offer in a private message.


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

Garin said:


> My strategy for eBay typically goes something like this:
> 
> Bid low "early". I start with a low max bid days before it finishes. I figure this discourages the casuals from going for the unbid item on a whim.
> 
> If there is bidding after that, I leave it as is so I don't get the other(s) excited. Then some time shortly before it ends (1hr or less), I put in my real max bid and then forget about it. If someone outbids me, well then they pay for it (literally) and I don't lose anything. If I feel like I "lost" then it just means I didn't put my max bid where it should have been, so it was my fault.


I do the same thing, but not last hour. Last minute. I wait until the counter is on seconds. I try to bid when there is less than a minute left.


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## BHS (Nov 20, 2010)

indigosmoke said:


> Well, after finally accepting the fact that the the odds of winning an auction on any decent older Petersons on eBay without using automated bidding are roughly equivilent to the odds of being stuck by lightning just as I'm picking up my Powerball check, I've decided to join the Dark Side. Anyone use a good service they could recommend.
> 
> Thanks!


Dude...just use https://www.ezsniper.com/ and forget about all the bidding nonsense once and for all.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

Poor snipe: over 15 seconds-gives the other bidder time to up his bid.

Excellent snipe: less than 5 seconds-no time for the bidder to react.

Unnecessarily cruel snipe: 5-15 seconds-time for the bidder to see what's happening, freeze them in their tracks, and destroy their psyche.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Hermit said:


> I do my sniping manually.
> My strategery is to decide on a maximum
> bid and submit it at about twenty seconds.
> If I don't win, then it went for more than I would pay.


Same here, but I shoot for under 5 seconds


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

eBay condones sniping. Helps to increase the final sales price, otherwise, they never would have added the seconds-left ticker. I remember having to manually refresh the page to see the countdown (and sometimes losing due to slow refresh rates), now I can watch the seconds tick by onscreen/


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## bigdaddychester (Feb 22, 2010)

I was gonna say, quite a few of the most recent auctions I've tried to win have been sniped from me. What's weird is ebay no longer shows the actual usernames of those bidding in the auction (unless you are the seller then you can see them). I have seen anonymous bidder designations, maybe 2 or 3, that at the last split second get a bid in and win. If I snipe manually, I absolutely wait until the last millisecond. You win some and loose some. 
Also, I think there is something about bid incraments. If they change and you don't have the amount to cover the incrament, you could be the highest bidder but not the winning bidder? Is there any truth to that?


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

> Also, I think there is something about bid incraments. If they change and you don't have the amount to cover the incrament, you could be the highest bidder but not the winning bidder? Is there any truth to that?


*I've never heard of this. My snipe has never let me down and I've beaten out some by less than the increment amount. I do pay for my snipe service though.....I think like 10 cents a winning bid but it's the nutts as far as I'm concerned and well worth the dime to me. I mean heck...what's a dime worth these days?....... about 3 cents!*


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

I believe it is true. If the current bid is 67, and the next increment is 69, and you're max bid is 68, you can be the highest bidder and not win. 

I think that's how it works anyway. I used to run an ebay store but it has been 2-3 years...


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